Yes and No, because:you can, legally, take the abortion pill, but most women find that the more they learn about the abortion pill, the more they find out that they don’t “just” take a pill. The abortion pill is frequently described as being clean, cheap, quick, safe and easy. It is not.

The abortion pill is not clean because:

There is four times more blood loss from the abortion pill than from a surgical abortion.

After taking the abortion pill, women cramp, bleed, and expel clots. (Women report their pain and bleeding is far worse than a normal menstrual period. They describe frightening blood loss and severe pain from abdominal cramping).

Diarrhea and cramping are common.

The abortion pill is not cheap because:

Taking the pill may cost as much or more than having a surgical abortion.

You may miss work due to the increased cramping and blood loss from a chemical abortion.

The abortion pill is not quick because:

You don’t swallow the pill until your second visit to the clinic.

During your first visit you’ll be going through your health history, your lab work, an ultrasound, counseling, paperwork, and all the processing that clients go through before having an abortion of any kind.

In Wisconsin, you’ll also need your parent’s consent if you’re under 18, and you’ll have to wait for 24 hours before you can make your second trip back to the clinic.

During the second visit, after having a pelvic exam and swallowing the Mifeprex to kill the fetus, you’ll be given some suppositories ( prostaglandins) to insert in your vagina at home. This is the drug that will start contractions to expel the fetus. It may take 4 hours, 4 days, or weeks — it’s very hard to predict how long the bleeding and cramping will last.

You may have to use vacation days or miss work, (which should be included as an additional cost for this abortion method.)

A third visit to the clinic is required two weeks after you swallow the pill. You’ll need another ultrasound to determine that your uterus is empty and clean.

If it isn’t, a follow-up surgical procedure will be needed. That, in turn, will take as long as a surgical abortion would have taken in the first place.

The abortion pill is not safe because:

If a woman experiences complications after she returns home, such as severe, extended bleeding or infection, she may not be eager to return to a doctor she doesn’t know, and now, doesn’t trust. She’ll go to her own doctor and be treated for her symptoms. That treatment won’t necessarily be reported as a complication of using RU-486, so safety statistics are skewed.

Yes, you can do your own research and find out about the deaths, the toxic shock syndrome, heart attacks, multiple transfusions, undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies, and other severe complications that make the national news. But you’ll be told that this “handful” of reports is merely a scare tactic abortion opponents use to manipulate public opinion. For women who required emergency surgery, or families who lost a loved one due to the complications of abortion, neither politics nor public opinion can change their reality or relieve their pain.

The abortion pill is not easy because:

As mentioned, the abortion pill requires multiple visits and the possible need for a surgical abortion.

Bleeding, cramping and expelling the fetus can occur at any time and in any place. Imagine if you have a presentation to give at school or at work and the cramping, bleeding and clotting begins?

It’s not easy when you don’t know if you’re ok or if you should go to the Emergency Room from all the bleeding you’re having after taking the abortion pill.

It’s not easy when you took the pill so nobody would know, and now you’re in the hospital’s Emergency Room and you feel like the whole world knows, If you are a minor, your parent(s) would have to be notified as the responsible party as well as the insurance holder.

There are many misconceptions and misrepresentations regarding chemical abortion. The abortion pill is not cheap, quick, clean, easy or safe.

What about the emotional impact of taking an abortion pill?

Who now is the abortionist? The woman taking the abortion pill now is the primary participant involved with the outcome of her own pregnancy. She makes the appointment, brings the money, reaches for and swallows the pill.

She is reminded by her own body, hour after hour of cramping and bleeding, that there’s nothing cheap, quick, clean, safe or easy about taking the abortion pill.

Women have called this organization in despair when they saw the remains of the fetus expelled into the toilet. The remains did not look like a clot, but they described what they saw as “a small person.” This reality was an emotional shock that caused regret and anger. Those phoning our organization stated they were not given adequate information before choosing to have an abortion in this manner.

Thinking about having an abortion?
Please call us for fully confidential information about abortion and your situation. You can also e-mail us or chat. OR, you may want to connect with a Pregnancy Help Center. To find out where there’s one near you, visit: http://www.optionline.org/get-help